2014 Finish-Along ~ 4th Quarter Results

I didn't do quite as well for the 4th Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.  (See my original list here.)  I'm blaming it on travel and the holidays!

1 - Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along that was hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness ~ WAY back last year. FINISHED!  Blogged here.

2 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I still only have 2 blocks done and hope to make at least some progress this quarter.  NO PROGRESS.

               

3 - Dapper quilt from the book Simply Retro by Camille Roskelly.  Almost finished!  I'm in the process of quilting this one now  :)

4 - Diamond District.  Two more blocks done ~ six total.

5 - Triangle Frenzy table runner.  This one's for me for Christmas!  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 2 out of 5 finishes for this quarter ~ not too bad considering the last month was really busy!  

It's hard to believe this year is over! I actually finished 13 projects ~ and 11 of those were for this 2014 Finish-Along.  I think that makes it a successful year for me!  Can't wait to get started on 2015!!

Linking up at the Littlest Thistle.  :)

WIP Wednesday ~ some progress on a Dapper Quilt

Really didn't get much sewing time in this week ~ we took a trip to South Carolina for our grandson's graduation from the Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island.  Seeing all those new Marines sure makes us proud!  

I did manage to work on my Dapper quilt a little once we got home.  The top is pieced (there's actually a 2" border that I added after I took this pic) ...

and I started trying to figure out how to piece the back.  Hoping to get this quilt finished by the end of the quarter!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and Let's Bee Social!

Friday finish ~ Feathered Christmas

I'm really happy with the way my Feathered Christmas wall hanging turned out!  I changed the pattern just a wee bit ~ putting a little red square in all the corners rather than just two and eliminating the outer border.  And as much as I love the quilting done on the original at the Cherry Blossoms Shop, I went with a totally different look using my ever faithful walking foot ~ an echoed starburst off the star and a checkerboard underneath with the tree outlined.  

One more Christmas decoration for me ~ makes me happy!

Linking up with Fabric Frenzy Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.

Custom finish and a few WIPs

Has it really been 4 weeks since I've made an appearance on this blog?!  I guess I've been too focused on making sure that the custom tree skirt was made perfectly (or as perfect as I could make it).  I have a really hard time sending out anything that I don't love, especially when I'm getting paid for it!

The important thing is that the tree skirt is on its way to its new owner ~ hopefully to be treasured for a long time to come!  (sorry for the bad photo)

WIPs:

Dapper Quilt  ~ I finished the 12 blocks for the Dapper quilt, but when I had it up on my little design wall I was having a hard time with the block placement.  Trying to keep similar patterns far enough away from each other ~ and not being happy with the result.  

So I decided to throw in two more fabrics and cut out enough fabric for 4 more blocks ~ I'm hoping that will help mix it up enough!

Better?

I've finished 6 blocks for the QAYG Quilt-Along (I know, I'm not making very much progress on that one!) ~

and started an applique project for a Christmas wall hanging called Feathered Christmas by the Cherry Blossoms Shop on Etsy.  I haven't done much applique and there are lots of little pieces to this project, but I love the design and I got to use my scraps for this one!  Hopefully I'll get this done and up before Christmas.  :)

Linking up with Lorna for Let's Bee Social!

Fourth Quarter 2014 Finish-Along ~ Finish No. 2

I realize that this was the easiest project going, but still ~ it's a finish!  With Christmas coming up fast, it might be the last finish of the quarter from my list.  :)

I found the binding to be a little tricky around those 45 degree corners and that might have been because in a couple of spots the seams in the binding ended up in the corners making them a bit bulky.  My bad ~ I should have made sure they wouldn't before I started.

I did my usual straight line quilting echoing the hexi shapes inside the white areas and following some of the border lines  (which is kind of hard to see in the photo) and I love the way it turned out ~  especially from the back!  The fabrics in this table runner were from Naughty or Nice by Dana Brooks for Henry Glass.  Made from the Triangle Frenzy Runner Pattern.

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday!  BTW, she has a giveaway from Shabby Fabrics on the blog for this gorgeous Up Parasol fabric!  Drool ...

WIP Wednesday and my first quilty commission!

I have to pinch myself ~ someone actually wants me to make them a tree skirt!  It's basically a copy of this one:

and, although I had to think about it at first, I decided to jump right in and just do it!  And since I've made this tree skirt before, this new one is going much faster (thank goodness!)  One of the hardest parts is deciding which fabrics go where.

But by yesterday, I had all them all sewn into strips and cut into wedges!  (LOVE my wedge ruler!)

I've managed to finish 5 QAYG blocks for the QAYG Quilt-Along.  I'm still behind in the quilt-along, but I'm can already see I won't have enough fabric for 20 blocks (how did that happen?!), so I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this ~ stay tuned!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday

Friday ~ First 4th Quarter Finish

Even though I debated on whether or not to add more quilting, I decided to leave the blocks alone and let them be themselves.  :)  Finished and washed and ready for snuggling ~ my City Sampler quilt!  

This is also my first finish for Quarter 4 of the 2014 Finish-Along.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday ~ City Sampler progress and something new

I made some good progress on my City Sampler quilt this past week ~ I finished the back and got it basted.  But then I ended up very frustrated with the quilting.  :(  I decided just to quilt straight lines horizontally and vertically 1/4" outside the blocks ~ no big deal right?  What I ended up with were crooked lines, uneven stitches and puckers.  In all fairness, this is the biggest quilt I've made to date, and I had a hard time wrestling with it on my little machine.  I guess it's a good thing I'm keeping it for myself.  :)

I did finish the quilting today, got the quilt trimmed and cut the binding (using this tutorial for continuous bias binding).

I know I have 4 other projects on my Quarter 4 Finish-Along list, but I came across this QAYG Quilt-Along at Quilting In The Rain.  And since I've never done quilt-as-you-go, I had to try it, right?  I'm using a jelly roll of Valencia by Lila Tueller for Riley Blake.  Finished one block so far ~ need to finish four more by Sunday.  Love the QAYG process!

Linking up with Let's Bee Social and WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday ~ Long overdue

It's only been 1 year and 4 months since I started the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along that was hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I finally finished the quilt top this week ~ using 63 blocks of the 70 I finished.  The other 7 blocks are going on the back somewhere.  (I know there were 100 blocks in the book, but 70 blocks were enough for the quilt I wanted to make!)  

It's hard to see in the photo below, but I added a 2-1/2" border.  (Sorry for the bad photos ~ but I like the way the light is shining through on this one.)

It feels good to be making some progress on this project ~ with any luck this will be my first finish for the 2014 Finish-Along!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday, Needle & Thread Thursday, and Let's Bee Social.

2014 Finish-Along ~ 4th Quarter

Here's my list for the 4th Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.

A couple of things were moved from last quarter:

1 - Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along that was hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness ~ WAY back last year.  I'm up to block 70 and decided that it was big enough for what I wanted.  :)  I've just about finished the quilt top ~ just needs a wider border around the outside.  63 blocks on the front ~ I'll put the 7 leftover blocks on the back somewhere.  :)

2 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I still only have 2 blocks done and hope to make at least some progress this quarter.

               

New this quarter:

3 - Dapper quilt from from Simply Retro by Camille Roskelly.  I love this pattern and the fabric collection I chose for it!  I have 4 blocks done so far.

4 - Diamond District.  Again ~ four blocks done (hmm - I see a pattern here)

5 - Triangle Frenzy table runner.  This one's for me for Christmas!  

I can't believe it's the last quarter of the year!  This has been a great motivator for me, so Thanks, Katy!!  Linking up at the Littlest Thistle.  :)

2014 Finish-Along ~ 3rd Quarter Results

I must say my results are much better for this 3rd Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.  (See my original post here.)

A few things were moved from last quarter:

1 - I'd really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  I did make some progress on this one!  I decided to stop at 70 blocks and I started adding the sashing ~ so far I have 7 rows sewn together.  This is going back on my list for next quarter ~ I think I can finish it by the end of the year!!  

2 - Good Night Irene quilt.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

3 - Star Light Star Bright Quilt.  Another quilt-along that I lagged way behind on ~ I have 2 blocks done and hope to make a lot of progress this quarter.  NO PROGRESS.

4 -  Hop Skip & Jump Block of the Month over at Sew Lux Fabric.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

New on the list this quarter:

5 - My Heart Quilt.   FINISHED!  Blogged here.

6 - Four SquareTable Runner.  FINISHED!  Blogged here.

So 4 finishes out of 6!  I'm happy with that.  :)  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.